Hyacinth
by Sangi
Summary: It's the ending of the beginning, and they're growing up now. Kind of. "It's sort of hard to explain," she says. Sasuke/Sakura.


**Notes Edited 1/2012**

**Title:** Hyacinth  
**Author:** Sangi  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.  
**Characters: **Ino, Sasuke, Sakura, Orochimaru, Kabuto, Naruto, some Sasuke/Sakura  
**Genre: **Romance, Drama  
**Word Count: **1121  
**Rating:** T  
**Author's Notes:** Originally posted in 2007.

* * *

1._bloom_

Ino has always been the most obvious, most stubborn. Her eyes have always been watching him carefully, as if she was meticulously waiting for his prime disappointment. Her smile never really reached her eyes and her mouth was always speaking.

A little blonde girl sits on a swing with a pink girl in the one next to her. She's looking into the distance at some of the younger boys playing (one stands on the sidelines and one watches from afar, his black eyes turned away).

"I think I'll like Sasuke," says Ino.

Sakura stops swinging. "Uchiha Sasuke?" she asks incredulously.

"Sasuke-kun," Ino firmly says.

* * *

2._thorn_

Stuck in his side, the memories never fade. _He's weak, damnit, he's weak._ And he needs to get better – and who to help him but his loyal mirror master, Orochimaru, who is (almost, almost, almost) exactly like him. Just almost. Bordering on the edge but never toppling over.

"Sasuke-kun needs some cheering up," Orochimaru says to Kabuto on a drizzling day.

_He's a bit sane today, _the medic observes. Though: "Hm?" Kabuto asks, turning towards the snake-man, as if to quietly ask _why?_

"You see," the sannin begins, "A boy is like a doll – a puppet, if you will. You must take care of it carefully, because if you play with it too rough, it gets broken. And you can never put a broken doll back together the same way," he observes thoughtfully. "In the end, all you're left with is a broken puppet, and a lonely one at that."

Sasuke, in the distance, breathes the mist of rain in.

* * *

3._leaf_

Blowing through the wind, never staying for long, disappearing for a long time and dying (wilting, anything) quicker than thought. Never mattering for more than a few seconds, except for perhaps something she's useful for.

Karin isn't beautiful, and she doesn't love Sasuke. She doesn't love Sasuke, and she doesn't want to love Sasuke.

But when she sees something in his eyes that makes her heart twist _just so_, she can't help but want to love him. He's beautiful in his own way and wonderful in someone else's, so why can't Karin love him? She has a right to love him.

They sit across a campfire, the fire flaring lightly in the dark night as Karin gently pokes the wood. Sasuke's eyes are blank.

Absently: "We should go a date sometime, Sasuke-kun." Casual and hoping,_hoping_, hoping.

The boy-man is struck by the familiarity of the situation and gruffly shakes his head (once, twice) and looks away.

Karin sighs deeply.

* * *

4._stem_

Sakura has been the thing that holds them together. She's the glue between Naruto and Sasuke – without her, all you have is two boys that have nothing in common other than that their orphans and both have a goal to face, along with their almost-bleak outlook on reality. But Sakura's sugar and spice and everything between.

"It's sort of hard to explain," she says, face trying hard to frown (or smile, he can't be sure) and her hands discreetly pushing a box behind her.

Sasuke's eyes follow her moving hands, but not commenting. "I see."_Anything I would know about? _He wants to ask, but doesn't. His mouth is twitching a bit at the corners and she sees, _she sees_, and Sakura's practically sure this wasn't what she wished for on her thirteenth birthday when she blew out the candles.

When he takes an uncertain step towards her, her mask falls and she's frowning lightly. "Don't go thinking this is for you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura warns as she takes the plain brown box in her arms. "Not everything is about you." She laughs softly, bitterly. "Even with me."

Sasuke is left in the room after her quiet words, thinking: _If only it wasn't true._

* * *

5._roots_

Stuck in the ground, hard to pull out, hard to take out and re-grow somewhere else. _He's always been a bit stubborn, _they think.

Naruto's birthday party is a small affair, and even though half the Kohona ninja world seems to be present, it's very quiet, especially for a party with Naruto involved.

_First birthday after Kakashi-san died, _says one to another, the second one nodding understandingly. From somewhere behind Naruto, Sasuke tries very hard not to snort. Of course Naruto and Sakura can also hear the ignorant man's comment, but they carefully ignore it, and Sakura prompts Naruto to open his gifts.

You would think Sasuke's gift would be on the bottom and Sakura's on the top, but it was exactly the other way. The wrapping paper was carefully peeled away and everyone leaned in to see what the dark-haired Uchiha had gotten Naruto for his birthday. The box was opened and…

It was an orange book. It was an almost small, familiar orange book with the words _Icha Icha Paradise_ on the front. Naruto's face is surprised, like practically everyone else in the room (somewhere in the back, Jiraiya slowly smiles), but after a moment, the shock fades away and he carefully puts the book to the side. "Thanks, Sasuke," he says quite seriously.

The gifts are opened and everything is easy and safe – socks, books, new ninja gear. Then they're at the bottom and everyone is gone but Team 7. They all sit at a circular table as Naruto reaches for Sakura's gift. The colorful orange paper is ripped away and Sasuke can see the plain brown box. Now that he can get a better look, it's quite strangely rectangular, almost like a picture frame…

Sasuke's eyes meet Sakura's, and she's laughing inside, a bitter laugh, but it's still a laugh in the end. _She wouldn't…_ the thought trails off as Naruto opens the box.

His hands, shaking now, pull out exactly what Sasuke had not wanted – a picture frame. Not just one, though; there are two. There's something in Naruto's eyes that Sasuke can't describe, but he and Sakura both get up to stand behind him and to look at the framed pictures in his hands.

One is of them as a genin team, with a sulking Sasuke and a defiant Naruto, cheerful Sakura in the middle and impassive Kakashi at their side. The other one is less than a year old, with a smiling Sakura next to a grinning Naruto and an almost-smirking Sasuke, with Kakashi behind them, a hand on Naruto's and Sasuke's heads.

Sasuke slowly, slowly, smiles and shakes his head (once, twice). Sakura puts an arm around both of their shoulders and smiles up at Sasuke, then down at Naruto.

It's the ending of the beginning, and they're growing up now. Kind of.

"This is nice," Naruto murmurs.

Sakura leans against Sasuke quietly, and he doesn't move away. He closes his eyes and slowly breathes.

"Yeah," she says quietly. "This is nice."


End file.
